To Move A Soul
by The Great Fuuza-Chan
Summary: Every movement is fluid, causing another movement, another consequence. This is the story of the movement of one's soul that starts a chain reaction of confusion, pain, and truth that no one wants to hear. ?xwinry


Hello everyone, the name's Fuuzaki, aka the Great Fuuza-Chan! this is the first fanfic I've attempted in a very long time, and definitely my first go at Fullmetal Alchemist. I have a lot of friends that write, and they are VERY good so I have a high bar for myself, so hopefully this won't turn out too bad! I've only seen eps 1-26; I will spoil for these episodes when I feel like it. Otherwise, I'll call this AU since I happily have NO idea what happens after 26. Have fun, review, rate me, and please be SUPER HONEST! Thanks go to Spooty-chan for beta-ing for me and SM for the awesome pics and Sailorcelestial for always being a fantastical friend and listening to me rattle even though she doesn't watch the show. And as for Jase.. :delivers Riza-bot: You happy now?

By the way, Al has gotten his body back, but Ed still has his automail limbs.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, yada yada yada. Stop reminding me.

To Move A Soul

By The Great Fuuza-Chan

_A soul can be ripped, torn, discarded, or spoiled. A soul can grow, heal, yearn, learn, and love. A soul tends to do any number of these things in its lifetime, for a soul will never stand still. In these days, we learned what it meant to move a soul. When these days had passed, we feared where our souls would move to next._

Summer Dreams Gone

The afternoon sun blazed; waves of heat swirled the scents of warm summer rain and grass into that aroma always associated with youthful romps and fun. The familiar smell made its way into the Rockbell Automail Shop through an open window, bringing a smile to the lips of one Winry Rockbell. It rained often in green Rizenbul, so this smell was not uncommon to Winry's nose, but it always managed to tug at the corners of her mouth. The smell of summer reminded her of a young boy with sandy brown hair and his older loud-mouth brother. Images of days long ago flitted through Winry's mind as she polished her latest piece of automail. It was beautifully crafted, as always, and would soon be worn by a young girl who had lost her arm in an accident on her family's farm.

Winry sighed and looked out the window at the green pastures of her home. It was a wonderful place, and her childhood had been blissful, but now it seemed that there was something missing. The two missing persons that kept this little town from being perfect were off again on yet another mission from the State. She didn't understand why they still took them. The search was over, after all. Al's body had been recreated, and Ed… well, for whatever reason, Ed still had an artificial arm and leg attached to his human torso. That had always been a question in the back of Winry's mind. Why had he kept the automail? Winry loved the stuff; it was fun to play with and it was her way of life, but she personally enjoyed having her real limbs much more.

That would probably be a question that the older Elric brother would never answer. He always kept everything so private. Winry had held a silent affection for him for several years, one that he had never taken the time to notice, much less reciprocate. No, affection was not Ed's strong point. Always the expert at running blindly into whatever dangerous situation fell in front of him, the amber-eyed alchemist never seemed to take the time to glance at the goo-goo eyed mechanic he left at home.

Like any other childhood crush, the warmth and flutter she felt whenever Ed Elric was in the room eventually began to fade. It was then the advances of the younger Elric brother were seen as what they were: true advances, not just the platonic invitation to dinner as they had seemed at the time. Winry smiled as she remembered the adorable red color Al's face had turned when she had come to him with an invitation. Sure it really was not supposed to work that way, but it had seemed right at the time. As unlikely as it seemed, Winry had fallen for Soul Moving Alchemist and never looked back.

Winry tore herself from her reverie and looked down at the piece of automail she was supposed to be polishing. Her eyes widened when she had gotten carried away with the polish and now the arm glinted harshly in the strong light of the sun. _At least a little over polishing won't do anything other than hurt people's eyes for a while… better than hammering an "extra" hole like last time, _Winry thought to herself as she reached for the lid to the polish.

Winry hurried as she heard the little bell that announced the arrival of a customer sound. She quickly grabbed the can of polish, yelping as it slipped through her fingers, hitting the ground with a metallic thud causing polish to spill out all over the floor. Winry rolled her eyes and grabbed a rag that sat on the table, slipping down onto all fours to clean the mess up.

"Stupid polish, never staying where it's supposed to be… Just a moment!" she called, groaning as her back complained at the abuse and her mind complained of the possibly disgruntled customer.

"Now since when has the Fullmetal Alchemist waited for anything?" A young man with a broad grin and a good ten inches of golden braid stood at the entrance of her workshop, leaning against the doorframe. Covering his muscled body was the same black outfit he had worn years ago when he first became a State Alchemist. The shirt, however, was fading from years of abuse and absence of a woman's touch. Those boys never could do laundry very well. The pants seemed to have survived the barrage of danger, or perhaps he had just gotten new ones. This was a much more likely answer, since it was obvious that Ed had finally grown a few inches. Edward Elric had been a cute boy and now he was an attractive man, the years aging his face and blessing him with a slightly softer attitude than the smart ass loud mouth that had inhabited his body in his early teenage years. He never had cut his hair so now it was well down his back; something also was different about his eyes, something Winry could not put her finger on, but surely it was just Ed's maturation over time.

"Ed! You're home!" Winry flung herself at her old friend, knocking over the stool she'd previously occupied. Surprisingly, Edward winced as Winry threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Winry, whoa…it's great to see you and all but… ow…" he gently pulled out of her grasp and a pained look came over his face. "My good arm would like a little courtesy. It's just a bit broken, after all."

Winry gasped and backed away from Ed, taking a closer look to see that his left arm was indeed set into a cast. She had not realized it before since the ever present red coat currently hung over the injured arm. However, that was not the only thing Winry failed to notice. She glanced over Ed's shoulder, looking for the man with sandy brown hair whose soul had once resided in a massive suit of armor. He was no where to be found. Winry took a step back from Ed, her stomach suddenly feeling extremely upset.

"Edward Elric… what has happened and where is your brother?" Her blue eyes stared into his amber, not about to let him get out of this story. There were so many stories recording his brilliance in alchemy that she had had to hear through the grapevine or in the papers. Neither of the Elric brothers ever wanted to worry her and so certain moments in their lives were conveniently left out of conversation when they came home. It never occurred to them that she might get to these moments another way. Lies, half-truths, and complete absences of information aside, Winry had always looked forward to their weekly letters. Through them she knew that Ed and Al were at least alive. The downside was that in those letters everything was fine. Al was always perfect and happy and fine; usually this was at least somewhat true. Obviously, such was not the case this time.

Edward stared back at her for a few moments before he lost the contest of dominance and his eyes fell to the floor. He swallowed and slipped his automail hand into his pocket, his eyes staring out the open window to the green pasture so perfectly lit by the summer sun.

"We were on another quest, Winry. We'd heard that Basque Gran had conducted multitudes of experiments on human soul fusions long before he looked into red water. Gran had fused them to objects unable to move on their own like pitchers, water glasses. Some of them weren't even full souls, just pieces of people's minds; the rest of it long gone onto whatever comes after this sick world. When Al heard about this…he was outraged. He demanded that we find these people, help them, at least transfer their souls to more appropriate vessels so they could move on their own.

"It should've been me, Winry… they found another laboratory in a town just east of the Xing boarder. Apparently Basque Gran used it for his human experiments. They were there, people trapped in the most pathetic of objects, holding onto this world by one tiny drawing of blood. They screamed; all they did was scream. Then there were more people in armor…fused people, just like 48 and 66...they caught us off guard. We didn't know what we were getting into. They didn't want to be changed, preferring to be in bodies that never aged, never died, and never felt pain. They fought us, broke my arm…I went unconscious.." Ed's voice fell away. Surely the rest was obvious.

Winry felt her knees grow weak and she grabbed onto a nearby table to keep herself from falling. The loneliness that had almost permanently slept in her heart ever since the two of them had left awakened and blossomed into a rage that burned and scorched everything it touched, including the part of her that cared if her words hurt her childhood friend. She was too busy recording every tear that threatened to spill over, tears that, in her mind, could have been prevented.

"And he had to save you… he had to get his brother out of yet another stupid fight! He had to be a State Alchemist, just like his brother! He couldn't be content with his body, or with me, he HAD to follow you on your adventures even though everything was over and done with! How could you?"

Winry's voice started off soft, but with anger, but by now her throat ached from screaming.

"He was your little brother! You're supposed to protect him but now he's dead and you're standing here with a broken arm! And what about me! You knew he loved me, how could you do this to ME!"

Winry reached out, grabbing Ed's clothes and clutching them, her blue eyes reflecting the frenzy in which her mind was immersed. Ed glared at her and grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands off of his clothing and holding her a distance away from him in case she decided to try something violent.

"Dammit, Winry! It was his goose chase this time! He wanted to _help_ those people, I couldn't have stopped him even if…" And Ed paused and gulped, knowing he might have just fired her up more.

"Even if _what_, Ed? Even if you'd _wanted_ to? Is that what you thought of Alphonse, just… just a piece of metal you could use to get your dirty work done so you would only get a broken arm? Is that all he was to you just another person you could use when you needed and then abandon!"

Ed stared in horror at the words that came out of her mouth. He gulped and tightened his hold on her wrists until she was writhing in pain.

"Ed…Ed! You're hurting me!" she cried, pulling at his hands but unable to break his grasp.

Ed's eyes widened as he pushed Winry away from him, the sobbing girl falling to her knees with a thud. She stayed there, unable to believe the words she had said. She didn't mean to scream like a misbehaving child, but she felt as if part of her very being had been ripped from her. She just sat there at the feet of the living brother of the dead man she loved, sobs tearing at her throat; her body trembling.

Edward just stood there and stared at her, as if he didn't know what should be his next move. Finally, he decided and he knelt beside her, the artificial arm Winry herself had created reaching around her and holding her close.

"Winry… I'm sorry, I ruined everything for you... and I know it means not near as much to you, but I'm here."

The trembling woman fought him for a moment before she simply fell against his chest and sobbed into the faded black jacket beneath the ever-present red coat. She cried for several minutes and just held onto him, the man who was her brother in everything but true blood.

"Ed, I'm sorry…I didn't mean what I said, it was unfair and stupid…Forgive me. And stay here, please stay here. At least for a while. I need someone to be here with me… Grandma is sick, and I feel like I'm all alone in this shop without her. And now that…that Al's…"

Ed nodded and automail fingers slid through blonde hair. The words had been brutal, but what had he expected, bursting in and telling her Alphonse was dead without any sort of preparation. He had not meant to hurt her, but with news like he had to bear, there was not any real way to soften its facts.

"Forgiven, Winry. I'm sorry I wasn't able to save him. He was my little brother and I would've done anything in my power, even given my life to save him. You of anyone should know that. And…I will stay with you, Winry. As long as you think you need me, I will stay. I won't leave the last piece of family I have so easily this time."

She looked up at him and made an attempt to smile. It turned out to be an impossible task.

"Thanks, pip—I mean, Edward."

"You better be glad you didn't finish that word… Just because I'm going to be living here doesn't mean you can start calling me short again…"

A young man with a long golden braid and a red coat sighed as the train whistle blew. This had been yet another false lead. That damn Mustang. Almost Fuhrer and he still wasn't satisfied unless he controlled the lives of hundreds of underlings. It was strange, though, being pulled to this city and that by Al instead of being the puller. Ed just wondered if they would ever be done, or if one of the two of them would always be looking for something and never knowing whether or not they found it. Ed rolled his eyes at his own brooding. He figured he must be getting old.

Ed sat up in his seat and sighed, casually pulling an envelope from inside his coat. It was slightly worn with a few water marks here and there. Most probably the letter had traveled to several cities before finally reaching the brothers Elric. Finally, Ed pulled at the back of the envelope, that unmistakable grin made its appearance on his face.

"What do we have here? A letter? Seems pretty thick, too..."

Across from him sat another man with sandy brown hair and a slight blush on his face. He was trying desperately to act like this letter meant nothing to him. The truth was that Al had been particularly waiting for this letter. It had been a long time since they had been back to Rizenbul, making every letter that actually got to them all that much important. It was the only way for him to contact his beloved blonde angel since phones had not yet become popular in their home town.

"Oh, really? Who's it from, Brother?" Al said with an added dose of 'nonchalant.'

His brother removed two pieces of paper from the envelope, giving a cursory glance to the heading of each. Something seemed to pique the blonde's interest and the grin enlarged. His amber eyes glinted with mischief as he held up the two pieces of paper, skillfully hiding the beginnings of each.

"Well, well, we don't even get the same letter anymore… is there something in these letters I might need to censor, Al?"

Ed set down on of the two letters, careful to not let Al see which one. He then opened the letter marked with "My Darling Al," not actually planning to read it. He was nosey, and also determined to fulfill the "annoy to the utmost fullest" aspect of his brotherly job description…but reading his brother's mail just seemed a little bit past the line. For a couple of seconds anyway…

_My Darling Al,_

_I miss you. Your last letter seemed terribly chipper, and I can't help but wonder if you are really alright or if you're trying to sound that way to keep me from worrying. You haven't told me what you are chasing after this time and I really would like to know. But Al, I'm done with the small talk. I want to talk about what you mentioned in your last letter. It's… it's a serious idea, but aren't we a little young?_

Ed stared at the letter not wanting to go any further. Had Al's relationship with Winry gotten farther than he had realized? He had not meant to give himself away so easily, but the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Wow, Al, this is kind of deep…wish _I_ got letters like this…"

The younger man gasped as he realized what fate had befallen his letter and jumped for his brother's hand, only to have it wrenched away.

"Hey, I'm reading this! Leave me alone!" The grin on the older brother's face progressed to a smirk as he dodged his brother's hands. Al grabbed and lifted his older brother, still being a bit stronger physically, and he was definitely the taller of the two.

"That…is…_my_...LETTER!"

"And _I'm_ reading it!" Ed squirmed in his brother's grip, determined to not let the letter go without a fight.

"Brother! Don't make me say it!" cried Al as he held Ed off the ground with one hand and tried to catch the letter with the other. "I've never said it before and I don't want to start now!"

Ed paused, knowing the one thing he had been made fun of for since he was a boy, the thing his younger brother had never used against him.

"Al…you wouldn't. Would you..?"

And in Ed's hesitation came his fall. Al snatched the letter away and dropped his brother on his ass, the letter safely in the hands of its intended owner at last.

"I'm sorry, Ed, but it's…important…" Al fell silent for a moment, suddenly feeling guilty for using the worst weapon in the arsenal against his brother. "I'm going to uh… check on the luggage…" said the younger of the two, clutching the love letter as he headed for the rear of the train.

His brother only continued to smirk as he picked up his own piece of paper, opening it up.

"Yeah. Right. Maybe the bathroom would be a better bet…less messy."

Al turned and stared at his brother with a mortified look on his face. How dare Ed suggest that he of all people would do… do _that?_ To one of _Winry's_ letters! The blush was already rising on his face, for more reasons than what Al was willing to admit.

"Brother, that's horrible! I will not be needing the cleanliness of the bathroom this day! I am going to go read my letter and I'm not coming back until I think you've cleaned your mind out!"

And with that the younger brother stalked off, paper in hand, leaving his brother to his own thoughts. After watching to make sure Al was safely out of the car and into the next, Ed looked down at his own letter.

_Dear Ed,_

_It's good to know that you and Al are safe. I never know whether to believe it or not, but I will trust that you both are alive. Things are the same as always here. Business is good. Speaking of that, you need to come in soon so that I can measure you. You grew an entire inch last time, and you might have done the same again or even more this time._

And so the letter went for about another couple paragraphs, ending with a plain "Take care of yourself, Winry." What had happened to long letters full of worry and care he used to get? Since when did Al get letters where every last corner of space was filled with her curly, feminine writing? _Ever since they started discussing something they might be "too young" for, _Ed thought to himself. He'd always thought there was an understanding, that once he and Al could finally settle down, he would sweep her off her feet and be the man she had always wanted instead of the man always throwing himself into the way of another lunatic or tyrant. Apparently he had waited too long to become that man, and she had found one willing to care for her now, settled or not. But why his own brother?

Despite the pain Ed felt when she came to his mind, he could not help but miss her. He still longed to return to her side, even though her heart belonged to his brother now. But maybe there was a way? Somehow Ed doubted it. He put his letter down and stared out the window, seeing her in his mind's eye. How Winry moved him. A very glance from her moved his very being, his very soul. How long would it be until they returned to her? How long would it be before he would stare at the woman he loved, seeing the way she looked at his brother. How could he go on knowing that she would always be _that_? His sister. His brother's girl.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to review or rate or whatever. Specificness is awesome.


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